Not Standing Down
by TeamPiper
Summary: About six months after One Eyed Willie, the kids learn that they need more money to keep the Goon Dock neighborhood around. After a cruel prank Troy pulls on the smallest Goonie, Mikey finds the key that might just save their town forever. Follow the Goonies as they embark on what could be their greatest adventure yet!
1. Introduction

**Hey people! If you know me, I want to let you know that I'm trying out other fandoms. If you don't know me, that doesn't really matter! I'm a really big fan of the movie, The Goonies so I thought this would be fun! Give it a shot! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Goonies or any of the origional characters. **

**Mikey's POV**

"I'm. So. Bored!" I complained, turning upside down in the chair I was sitting in at the moment. Upside down, I could see my brother, Brand, and his girl friend, Andy, sitting on the couch, making out to the new Cyndi Lauper song.

Brand held his hand up to my comment, not bothering to look away from Andy. Typical Brand.

You know, I was a Goonie! We should be out, having some miraculous adventure, but no. I was stuck at the house with Brand, because my parents were on vacation and left him in charge.

Suddenly, the most interesting thing that had happened all day accord: Mouth yelling at me to open the door.

I sprung up from my chair, and opened the door for my sad excuse for a friend.

"Hey Mikey, what we got planned today?"

"Nothing" I responded, nonchalantly. "Mom and Dad are out of town, and Brand won't let me do anything"

Mouth sneered. "Looks like he's doing plenty"

This actually got Brand's attention. "Hey! Watch it, Mouth"

"I'm just sayin..."

Then, I heard a voice outside. "Yo, Mikey!" I instantly recognized the voice, and started outside to let her through the gate.

As I swung the door open, I saw the first female Goonie member: Molly Lane, or Shortie to us Goonies. I started to release our Rube Goldberg machine to open the gate for her, but Mouth interrupted me before I could.

"Wait, wait, wait" he said. I knew this wouldn't be good. "First, you got to do the Truffle Shuffle"

Shortie snarled, and called out "Perv!" Before climbing over the fence and jogging up to us.

Now, she earned the nickname Shortie for a reason. If we were all on even ground, she stood about one and a half inches shorter than Data, and that's really saying something. The height difference between her and Mouth was uncanny.

"You won't believe what I just heard" she said, walking straight into our house.

"Chunks on a diet?" I sarcastically asked.

"Data got arrested for using his 'Bully Blinders' on a cop?" Brand said, pulling away from Andy.

"You're growing boobs?" Mouth asked, before getting back handed very hard by not one, but two fellow Goonies.

"No, no, and you wish" she said, preparing to drop the bomb. "I heard that Willie's treasure isn't paying off all the house bills. They need more, or they're gonna take us down"

Before anyone could react, we heard 007 music blasting through the windows. Everyone's eyes widened, as we quickly took our 'Data crash landing positions'.

Shortie and I opened the door (and screen door) as Brand ran out, and grabbed Data to slow him down. Successfully, Data landed in the house without breaking anything. We had established this system after the big One Eyed Willie adventure.

"Hi guys!" Data said with his usual smile.

"Hey" we responded, sadness in our voice.

"What's wrong?" Data questioned, noticing the lack of enthusiasm.

Shortie was about to explain what she had heard, when the last member decided to join the party.

"Come on guys, let me in!" Chunk whined from behind the gate.

"Okay, at least make him to the Truffle Shuffle!" Mouth complained.

Shortie rolled her eyes, and released the machine.

"Gee, thanks Shortie" Chunk said as he entered the premises. He stumbled on up the stairs, and we went back through the un-broken screen doors.

Data asked again why we were so sad, and Shortie explained again how we might loose the Goon Docks.

"Wow" Chunk said, shoving some chips into his mouth. "It's really something awful"

I was about to speak, when I was interrupted by my oh-so-loving brother.

"Hey dorks, if your gonna have a party, do it somewhere else. Andy and I were here first"

"Well, where are we suppose to go?" Mouth asked him, seemingly aggravated.

"I don't care, the Goon Docks? You are named after them" Brand stated.

We all shrugged, and started outside again.

As we started to pick up our bikes, we were stopped by a guy in his late twenties, with big glasses and a camera around his neck.

"Excuse me" he asked "are you the-um- Goonies?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" Mouth said, puffing out his chest.

"Hi, I'm Steven Robbins. I'm doing a news report about how you youngsters have a chance of loosing your houses again, and what you kids might do about it. May I interview you four?" He questioned, awkwardly staring at Shortie, probably wondering who she was.

"Uh-" I stuttered. I knew they wouldn't want to talk to Shortie because she wasn't actually there. But I didn't want to just leave her awkwardly standing there.

"Mikey, you guys do the interview. I'll get a head start up to the Goon Docks" she said, simply.

"You sure you'll be okay without us?" I asked.

She laughed.

"I think the real question is will you be okay without me"

We all snickered. As much as we hated to admit it, Shortie was just about as though, maybe even more so, then us. This thought sent me into a flashback, of when we first admitted her to the Goonies.

_**FLASHBACK One year before One Eyed Willie Adventure**_

_It was a hot summer day, and the Goonies and I were doing our daily stop at the 7-11 down the road. As we pulled our bikes into the bike rack, we saw an unfamiliar figure hanging around._

_The first thing I noticed was her height: boy that girl was small! Her thick, messy curls were thrown up into a sloppy ponytail, and she was checking out the comics that sat at the stand._

_"Who's she?" I heard Chunk whisper to me._

_"No idea..." I said, trailing off a little bit._

_"Maybe she bought the house that was for sale!" Data mentioned._

_We all let out a collective 'ohhhh' as we realized he was probably right. In our neighborhood, there had been a house for sale since I had been born. Recently, we had all noticed the 'SOLD' sign in front of it._

_"Maybe we should let her be in the Goonies, you know if she's new here" I suggested._

_"Mikey, are you crazy!" Mouth half yelled at me. "We can't let a girl join us! She'll just complain the whole time and ruin all the fun!"_

_"Yeah, but-"_

_"No buts! Unless she proves herself worthy, we're not letting her in. Besides, we don't even know her name!"_

_"I'm sure we could learn it, and-"_

_"Wait" Mouth said, interrupting me mid sentence "Looks like Mikey has a wittle cwrush!"_

_"I do not!" I started to argue, but stopped when Mouth practically screamed_

_"Jerk alert!"_

_We all stopped what we were doing, and his behind the candy bar section._

_"Come to Papa!" Chunk said, unwrapping a nice, big chocolate bar. Data slapped his hand, but he continued inhaling it._

_The slight sound of the bell rang as Troy stepped into the small gas station, Andy following close behind._

_He made his way over to the comics, where the girl was looking over all of them. He harshly shoved her out of the way, causing her to land flat on the floor._

_"Hey!" She yelled, quickly standing up._

_'Man' Mikey thought 'Compared to Troy, she's even smaller then normal!'_

_"Buzz off little girl" he said, giving her a smaller shove._

_All the Goonies were expecting her to run away in fear, because Troy was known for not being afraid to knock a girl around every once and a while. But, she did the completely unexpected._

_"Make me" she said, shoving him back._

_"Troy, lets just-" Andy said, not wanting a little girl to get hurt._

_"Stay out of this Andy" Troy rudely said. "Now I'm gonna be nice at let you off with a warning, kid. Stay. Out. Of. My. Way."_

_The girl sneered. "Or what? You'll beat the shit out of me? Believe me: I know the feeling"_

_Mikey questioned this. How could a girl know what it felt like to get beaten up? His thoughts were quickly interrupted by Troy grabbing her by her light green t-shirt, pulling her up to his level, and pressing her against the wall._

_"That's it!" He screamed. Troy pulled back his arm, ready to punch her right in the face. The Goonies knew that they had to help. Andy was begging him to stop, saying she was just a little girl and didn't know any better._

_However, just as the Goonies were about to make a move, the girl kicked him straight in the nuts. Dropping her in an instant, she pushed him down to the floor._

_"You listen to me. I already have enough crap going on with me, so I would appreciate it if you left me alone, unless you want to play this game again. Okay?"_

_We were all astounded. Nobody ha ever stood up to Troy, let alone a girl!_

_"I'll get you someday, who ever the hell you are!"_

_Just before walking out, she turned around and said "Molly. Molly Lane"_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Needless to say, we followed her out and started talking to her, before we knew it, she was being called Shortie and making history by being the first female Goonie.

Even though she could handle herself, I knew the whole groups felt a little protective over her. After all, she was the smallest, youngest (only by a few days), and not to mention a girl.

Troy never really did get his revenge, but I knew he would never forget.

I watched as she hoped on her bike, and sped off to the Goon Docks.

Time to answer some questions.

**Shortie POV**

I quickly grabbed my bike, and started for the Goon Docks. I've lived in this town for about a year and a half now, and I'm loving it. Of corse, any where I go isn't that great. I look down at one of the large bruises I had gotten last night.

'Molly stop!' I thought to myself. 'Don't think about it when you're with Mikey and them'.

Honestly, I truly loved the friends I had made, and was mortified the first time I learned about the foreclosure. Of corse, me thinking I can do anything, challenged Chunk to an eating contest the day before our last Goonies weekend. Big mistake.

Yup. I was to busy vomiting to go on the great 'One Eyed Willie' expedition. Everyone knew who the Goonies were: Mikey, the inspirational leader; Brand, the caring older brother; Andy, the beautiful girlfriend; Stef, her fun loving best friend; Mouth, the cute best friend; Data, the smartest of them all; and Chunk, the brave one who saved them all.

But no one knew about Shortie. Sure, I'd learned to blow it off, but man was it annoying having my friends interviewed all the time!

I sighed as I pulled my bike up to the grass, and walked down the hill to the Goon Docks.

Leading up to a series of docks was a very steep, very big hill. It always took people some time to get down it, just to make sure they didn't fall. But at this point, I had learned how to make my way down within seconds.

As I reached the bottom, I started thinking again.

I had been all over the world (for reasons I'd rather not say), but this was by far my favorite. I still had a few secrets, but I could trust the Goonies with most everything.

I sat there, waiting for the rest of them to show up when I feel a hand wrap around my mouth, and all of a sudden I'm being pulled to my feet.

I bite hard at the hand covering my face, and the person with draws fast. I try to make a break for it, but someone grips my arm firmly.

I turn around and see none other than Troy and his little cronies.

"What the hell!" I scream at him. I start thrashing around in his grip, so one of his friends grabs my arms and holds me still.

"Oh Molly" Troy says, laughing. "Looks like I can finally get my revenge"

I try to think of a usual sarcastic remark, but nothing comes to me. I'm to close to the water...

"Why now?!" I ask him.

He and his friends laugh. "You really don't know? Wow. I've been waiting for you to be away from your little Goonie friends. I don't want them to be able to help you"

"Are you seriously still pissed about last year! It was a freaking year ago, Tory! Get over it!" I screamed, partially hoping that the Goonies would hear me and come help. Not that I was afraid of Troy, but I was to close to the water for comfort, and I could really use a hand right now... God the one time I actually need them.

I glanced at the water and shuttered a little bit. So deep...

Unfortunately, Troy noticed this. He let out a laugh.

"Aw! Looks like someone's afraid of water!"

Before I knew it, the arms holding me in place switched positions as Troy's other friend grabbed my feet. Slowly, they started swinging me back and forth.

"Troy, I'm being serious! Beat me up, I don't care, but seriously. Make. Them. Put. Me. _Down_!" I screamed.

For the first time in forever, I felt completely helpless.

"Come on Molly. I think it's time you go for a little swim"

"MIKEY!" I scream at the top of my lungs. My mind in complete panic mode. "MOUTH, CHUNK, DATA, ANYONE PLEASE!" My body kept getting rocked back and forth, and back and forth.

"Hey!" I heard a familiar voice scream from the top of the hill. I felt a rush of relief as I saw Mikey, Mouth, Data, and Chunk running down the steep hill. "Put her down now" Mikey demanded.

"As you wish" Troy said. I screamed as I was released into the deep, dark water.

**MIKEY POV**

At this point, we had gotten use to reporters asking us questions about our Goonie adventure. After about five minutes of questioning, we finally got on our bikes and went to met Shortie at the docks. I was peddling a little faster then normal, and the guys noticed this.

"Mikey, calm your pants" Mouth told me.

"Yeah" Data agreed "Shortie may be small, but she is perfectly capable of going to the docks without dying. Right?"

"Data's right" Chunk admitted. "Just because you like her doesn't mean you have to treat her any different than us"

"I don't like Shortie!" I defended weakly.

"Sure pal, sure" Mouth said.

We were almost to the docks, when I heard someone screaming. My heart rate sped up.

"Calm down, Mike" Mouth said "It's not her!"

"MIKEY!" My eyes opened wide. "MOUTH, CHUNK, DATA, ANYONE PLEASE"

"So maybe I was wrong" Mouth admitted. I could tell he was worried though; he joked when he was scared.

"Hey!" I screamed, approaching the hill that lead to the docks. There I saw Shortie being swung in between two of Troy's friends, as he laughed at her. "Put her down now" I demanded.

When I first saw her, I wondered what the big deal was; it was just a little water. Then I remembered. It was water.

"As you wish" Troy laughed, letting his friends throw her into the deep water below her. This was the first time I'd ever heard Shortie give out such a terrified scream.

"You idiot!" I screamed as I reached the docks, pulling off my shoes to dive in after her.

"What, it's just water!" He said, shrugging it off.

"She can't swim" Data said as I plunged in right behind her.

I felt the water submerge me into its depth, and I opened my eyes to try and find her. It was dark and foggy, but I kept swimming around to find her.

I popped back up for air, and saw that Troy was already gone and so was Mouth.

I dived down again, frantically looking for her. I saw a shimmer of something at the bottom of the lake, but ignored it to find Shortie.

I came up for more air, and was back down in seconds. At last, I saw her at the bottom of the lake, looking unconscious. I wrapped my arm around her, and started swimming up.

As I surfaced, I could see Data and Chunk were relieved that I found her. I swam her over to the dock, and they pulled her on shore.

"Where's Mouth?" I asked after Shortie was placed on her back

"Getting Brand. We might need his help" Data responded.

"Come on, Shortie!" Chunk said, trying to get her to wake up.

"She'll be fine" I tried to convince them, and myself.

"Shortie!" I heard Mouth yell, as he, Brand, and Andy started down the steep hill.

"Oh my God!" Andy said, as she approached us.

Brand hit the ground, and pushed Chunk, Data, and me aside. He started pushing on her chest, until she coughed up water.

Relief filled my body as I saw her groggily sit up.

"Shortie!" Everyone said, thrilled that she was awake.

"God, damn you Troy!" She yelled, as if he could hear her.

"Are you okay?" Chunk asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine" she said, attempting to stand up.

I could tell she hated all this attention from us. Not that she didn't like attention; she loved it when she was the hero. Damsel in distress, not so much.

"Are you sure you should be walking?" Data asked her.

"I just fell in the water, I'll be fine" she assured us, stumbling along the docks trying to get as far away from this as possible.

"Seriously Molly," Brand started "You should take it easy"

"I'm fine!" She yelled. Of corse, at that second she almost collapsed onto the ground. Luckily, I had caught her at the very last second.

"What were you saying again, Molly dearest?" Mouth sarcastically said.

Shortie sneered. "Get stuffed" she retaliated.

"Guys, now that Shortie's okay can we seriously go get some pizza or-"

"Chunk! Do you ever not talk about food!" I yelled. "Right now, we need to get Shortie up this hill without anything else terrible happening"

"And how do we do that?" Mouth asked "She can barley move!"

"Objected!" Shortie responded.

"I know!" Data said "We can try my new invention! I call it 'Getaway Line'. See, you take this and shot it up like this! See! Now you have a zip line to escape on!"

"There's a problem, dummy" Brand said "We can zip line going up"

"Ow!" Data exclaimed.

Brand sighed, stood up and walked over to me, Shortie still lying in my arms. He scooped her into his arms, and with slight resentment from her, threw Shortie over his shoulder and started making his way up the hill.

"Hey guys!" I called, loud enough for Mouth, Chunk, and Data to hear. "I think I saw something down there. I want to go check it out, just to see what it is"

Before I got any comments, I was back in the water looking for the slight gold flash I'd seen earlier.

Deep in the darkness, I saw the flash of gold. I swam down and picked it up, noticing what it was.

It was a key.

I think I know how we can re-save the Goon Docks.

**How was it? I hope it was at least readable, and hopefully reviewable? It would mean the world to me! I want you opinion on what I could do to make it better. **

**Fun fact: I've been trying to bring back 'jerk alert'. It's not working to well...**

**Well, that's it for tonight! Last official day of middle school tomorrow! Oh the fun I will have... **

**Please review!**


	2. George Bennet

**Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the reviews and follows! They really meant a lot! Hope you like the chapter! **

**Mikey's POV**

The morning after the Shortie/Troy incident, I woke up holing the key I had found close to me. I hadn't told anyone about it, just because we were already stressed enough with getting Shortie home, and plotting revenge on Troy.

We knew Shortie would kill us if we tried anything on Troy; she would claim it was her battle. But if you mess with one Goonie, you mess with all of us.

Around noon, we had assembled at my house. When Shortie walked in, she was swarmed by all of us.

"How you doin?"

"Anything hurt?"

"Need anything?"

"Shortie, sit down"

"GUYS!" She yelled, her voice over powering all of our comments. "I swear I'm fine! It was just a little water! I survived"

"Barley" Mouth whispered under his breath.

I elbowed him in the gut, hoping that Shortie didn't hear that comment.

"So, what's new?" She asked, plopping down on a chair and pulling her legs up to her chest.

"Trying to think of a way to save the Goon Docks...again" Data said.

"About that..." I started. The key I had found in the lake, I swear I'd seen it before. And I think I knew where to find it. "I found this key in the water after Shortie, you know, 'fell'" I said, pulling the key from my pocket.

"And..?" Mouth questioned.

"Well, when we were in the attic I think I might have seen a picture of the same key. It might lead to another treasure?"

"Mikey, all keys look alike. I doubt it's the same one" Brand said as he lifted some 20 pound weights.

"I know, but-"

"No buts! Mom and Dad would kill me if they found out I let you guys up there again"

"But-"

"No!"

You know how whenever you know someone really well, you're able to have a conversation with them just by looking them in the eye? Well, Mouth and I excelled at this art. I looked him straight in the eye.

'_Mikey, let it go'_

_'Come on! We have to at least try!'_

_'Fine. Lets do this'._

Mouth sighed and said "Okay, lets just go to Mikey's room and talk about buffaloes"

Brand looked at him awkwardly, while I face palmed. Buffaloes? That's the best he could think of? Data, of corse, was thrilled with the idea.

"Oh!" Exclaimed Data "Did you know that buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo is technically a sentence in the English language!"

"That's nice, Data" Shortie said, sarcasm rolling off her voice.

"Aw, but Mikey it's already lunch time, and I haven't eaten since breakfast, and golly I'm just starving. Can we please talk about buffaloes in the kitchen" Chunk complained.

"Chunk" I said giving him my best 'just go with it' glare. "Just come on!"

Chunk whined all the way up the stairs, until Shortie finally snapped.

"Chunk! We are obviously not coming up here to talk about buffaloes!"

I saw Data's smile fade for a second.

"Okay," Mouth started "Mikey here is determined to get into the attic to cheek out his stupid key idea. Being the amazing friend that I am, I'm telling you to help him"

"But Brand said-" Chunk began.

"Gee Chunk, maybe that's why we didn't tell him?" Mouth asked him, sarcastically.

"So, how do we get back up there?" Shortie asked, looking up at the ceiling cord none of us could reach.

We gave Shortie a look, all thinking the same thing. She looked up, and it clicked with her mind.

"Fine" she mumbled.

Mouth and I cupped our hands, and she put one of her feet into each one. We slowly raised her up, and she reached for the attic string.

I noticed a big, black bruise on the side of her knee. Where did that come from?

She grabbed the string, and Mouth and I lowered her down, talking the attic staircase with her.

"Hey Shortie," I asked as we were about to walk up the stairs. "Where did you get that giant bruise on your knee?"

Within an instant, she tensed up.

"Oh, it's from-um-when, ah, Troy dropped me in the lake! Yup, that's it!" She stuttered out.

There was one thing that was universally known through out the Goonies: Shortie can't lie.

Just as I was about to question her further, I heard Mouth scream "Mikey! Shortie! Stop making love and get up here!"

We both blushed severely hard as we climbed up the stairs.

Shortie punched Mouth in the gut as she said "That's for your last comment" and then nailed him again "And that's for trying to look up my shorts when I was opening the attic door"

Mouth sat down in pain, as I started to look for a picture of the key.

After 13 wise cracks from Mouth, 9 threats from Shortie, 17 'interesting' facts from Data, and 6 broken vases from Chunk, I finally found the picture of the key.

"Guys! Hurry up, I found it!" I yelled. Everyone ran over to my position on the floor, and started looking at the newspaper I held in my hand.

I took the key, and compared it to the picture on the newspaper.

"It's un-canary" I whispered.

"You mean uncanny, dumb ass" Mouth whispered back.

I shot him an annoyed look, but then went back to reading the article.

"What does it say?" Shortie asked.

I started reading it out loud. "In 1832, a man by the name of William Rogers accidentally killed Abigail Bennet by trampling her with his horse. Her husband, George Bennet, went into a severe depression. Bennet, not being able to live with out his wife at this point, buried all of his money, and went home. That night, he shot himself in the gut. A young woman heard the shot and ran to the house. She found Bennet half dead on the floor. She asked him about the treasure and said 'The only way to find the treasure is to swear by the-' and then died before he could finish the sentence. Many have tried to find the lost Bennet treasure, but none have accomplished locating it"

"Wow" Shortie said.

"Maybe we could find the treasure!" Chunk exclaimed. "I mean, we found Willie's! Why not George's!"

"We have to try!" I said.

"One problem, " said Mouth. "We have no idea where to look for the damn thing!"

We all started thinking. Where could it be? To swear by the-

"Stars!" Data yelled.

"What?" We all asked in confusion.

"Swear by the stars! Remember?" He said, getting more and more excited.

"He's right" Shortie whispered. "If we follow the stars, it might lead to a map of some sort!"

"Well, we can't do it tonight!" Chunk said.

"Why not?" Mouth asked aggravated. "The sooner we get it, the better"

"But it's Sunday" I said, concluding Chunk's thoughts. "We need to see the stars, and we can't go exploring in the night if we have school tomorrow"

"How about Friday?" Shortie suggested.

"Yeah," I said "Friday, we go out, follow the stars, and save our houses! Another Goonie adventure!"

After we planned it all out, we left the attic and went down stairs.

I looked at the time, and saw that it was already 6:00.

"Oh shit!" Shortie said, noticing the time. "I had to be home at 5:00 to make dinner, and-ugh! I just have to go! Bye! See ya!" And then she was running out the door before we even responded to her.

"We should probably get home to" Data said.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Mike" Chunk said, as he Mouth, and Data left my house.

"Yeah" I said. "See ya tomorrow"

**How was it? It's a little boring and short, but I promise that it will be better in the next chapter. **

**Thanks for reading! Please review! **


	3. The Truth

**Hey everyone! Hope you like the chapter!**

**Note: Everything that happens at school, happened to me my 8th grade year. (My Social Studies teacher was AMAZING!) And, all my battle commands are correct. When my school did it, I was Lt. of the Union army.**

"Mikey!" I hear my mom yell. "Hurry up, you'll be late for school!"

"I'm coming!" I replied, finishing tying my shoe, and running down stairs.

My mom was waiting at the bottom, and passed me a brown paper bag containing my lunch. I grabbed the bag, and started out the door.

"Bye Sweetie, love you" she said.

"You too!" I yelled from the opposing side of the screen door. I grabbed my bike, and started down the hill to school.

About five minutes later, I pulled my bike into the bike rack. Quickly, I ran through the doors, and shoved my backpack into my locker.

Taking my stuff for Science and English, I plowed my way through the crowded halls.

I finally reached my first destination: Science, with Mrs. Walker.

Now, Mrs. Walker wasn't exactly the best teacher in the world, and that's putting it nicely. She hasn't taught us a thing all year, yet still gives us ridiculously hard tests.

"Okay, open your books to page 127, and read that chapter, then do this worksheet, then we'll take a quiz". And that was our 'lesson' for the day.

After I read 7 pages on molecular compounds, I grabbed one of the worksheets.

Staring at the paper for a while, I realized that I picked up on nothing from the reading.

"Mrs. Walker?" I asked, approaching her desk.

"Yeah" she said, not looking up from whatever she was doing.

"What type of compound is this?" I said, pointing to the picture on my paper.

She looked up, and stared at it. Before she even said it, I knew what her answer would be.

"I don't know. Go ask Richard" she said, nonchalantly, returning back to whatever she was doing.

I sighed, and walked over to Data. Of corse, he knew exactly what was going on.

Luckily for me, I had every class with at least one Goonie. We even had Math with all of us! I had Science with Data, English with Mouth, PE with Chunk, Math with all of us, Social Studies with Data and Shortie, Civics with Chunk (worst. Class. Ever) and finally Music with Mouth.

After an eternity, the bell rang and I walked to English. True, it wasn't one of my better subjects, but our teacher was really nice and fun. Plus, all we're doing is reading out loud the play of 'The Diary of Anne Frank'.

I sat down in my spot next to Mouth, as I pulled out my script.

"What's up?" Mouth asked, as he joined me.

"Nothing much, you?" I replied.

"Eh. I can tell it's gonna be a loooong day"

"Alright, open your scripts to page 64" Our teacher, Mrs. O (don't even ask me what O stands for. I can't even pronounce it, let alone spell it).

"Now," she started "This is a very serious scene between Anne and Peter. I know, it's going to get a little awkward, so please be mature about it" she said, staring directly at Mouth.

He gave her a smile, and she rolled her eyes a bit.

The thing about this unit, is that we read a scene everyday, and have different people read different parts each day. So far, I had been Mr. Frank, Stage Directions, and Mr. Van Daan.

"Now, because this is going to be a hard scene to act, so Lizzie you read Anne-"

There was no doubt on why she chose Lizzie for such a big part. Lizzie Bennett was known for being a 'theatre kid'. I have to admit, she was a pretty good actress.

"-And Peter will be read by Clark". Mouth's eyes bulged open. I held in a laugh, as he walked up to start doing his scene with Lizzie.

"Lets also have Jason as stage direction, Amy as Margot, Melissa as Mrs. Frank, James as Mr. Frank, and Angie and John as the Van Daans". She finished, as everyone made there way up to the front of the class room.

I spaced out for a little bit, at least until I heard Mouth start reading.

"Peter," Lizzie read, putting her hand on Mouth's shoulder "Have you ever kissed a girl?"

Mouth responded, trying to keep it cool, but things can't be kept cool when Lizzie Bennett starts crawling all over you.

"No. I'm a lone wolf. Have you ever kissed a boy?" He asked, starting to lean closer to her.

As Lizzie said her line, I couldn't help but laugh at how Mouth was acting. I'd thought he'd be laughing his ass of at this scene, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

By the end, they looked as if they were about to kiss, when Mrs. O finally called time.

When Mouth sat back down, he whispered to me "I think Lizzie's into me"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Like a girl like Lizzie would give you the time of day"

"It could happen!" He defended.

Again, the bell rang, and I was off to PE.

Today was our jump rope test, and I was partnered up with Chunk. I think I'll spare you the details, and go straight to Math.

Finally, the class with all of us. To make it even better, we chose where we sat so I could always talk to my friends.

Today our teacher, Mrs. Dorris, was gone, and we were stuck with our sub: Mr. Duncomb. He was everyones favorite substitute, probably just because of his cool English accent.

"Now," he started. "I'm Mr. Duncomb, like you done comb your hair. First, I need to take role. Uh, David Adams"

"Here"

"Nicole Carpenter"

"Lawrence Cohen"

"Here" said Chunk

"Here"

"Clark Devereux"

"Here!" Mouth said from next to me. After a few names, I realized something.

"Molly Lane" he called.

Science.

"Is Molly here?"

"Okay then" he finished, after no response.

We all looked at each other and shrugged.

"I'll get her her work after school" I told them, knowing one of us would have to do it.

The rest of Math was pretty boring, considering no one but Data knew what the hell X= -B +/- the square root of B squared - 4AC all over 2A.

Finally, it was lunch time. I grabbed my lunch from my locker, and met the guys at our table. I noticed that Mouth was missing from our little group.

Data, as if reading my mind, said "He's over there. He has some weird idea that Lizzie Bennett likes him"

I laughed, and told Chunk and Data the story of English. We all watched him strikeout, and sulk back over go our table.

"Not one word" he said, as he sat down.

Almost to fast, lunch was over and I was back in Social Studies class with the coolest teacher ever: Mr. Baker.

Now, Mr. Baker wasn't your average Social Studies teacher. He made a promise to us at the beginning of the year that he would wear something America related everyday of the school year, and so far he's kept his promise.

He also had a big baseball bat, with an American Flag drawn onto it, with Captain America written on the side.

Right now, we were studding the Civil War. Any normal class, this would be agonizing, but this was Mr. Baker.

"Mikey" he said, nodding at me.

I smiled, and said in my commander voice, "Platoon, fall in!"

And with that, my classmates all ran to the closet, grabbed a wooden musket, and got into their ranks in the hallway.

For about a month, Mr. Baker has been teaching us the basic commands for the Civil War armies. Each class elected a Lieutenant, Sargent, and a Corporal, and I was the leader of my class.

"Platoon, right shoulder arms" I commanded. Then grabbed their muskets, and brought them up to their shoulders. "Platoon, forward march"

As we marched outside, I went through all the commands. We had about 27, and it took me a while, but I memorized all of them.

Finally, Mr. Baker told me to lead the class in so we could finish our lesson.

"Platoon, fall in. Platoon, right shoulder arms. Platoon, forward march" and we marched back to class.

"Platoon, halt. Platoon, fall out" and they put their muskets away, and sat back at their desks.

I have to say, I missed having my Sargent around. Shortie had been elected right after me, giving her second in command.

After Baker's class was over, I was in Civics. Now, Civics was possibly the worst class I'd ever taken. I'm not even going to talk about the unspeakable horror that is within that class.

Music, as always, was a drag. Not really awful, yet not amazing. We are working on 'One Day More' from the show, Les Miserables. Me, being the lucky guy that I am, had to be assigned a solo. Sure, all I had to sing was 'One more day before the storm, at the barricade of freedom. When our ranks begin to form. Will you take your place with me', but it still sucked.

I guess I had it better than Mouth, who had to do the Marius part with Lizzie as Cosette. Watching them singing to each other was painfully awkward.

Finally, school was over. Before I left, I walked from class to class to get Shortie's work.

After my round, I met the guys by our bikes.

"Hey Mike" Chunk says as I pull my bike from the rack. "Think we can eat when we get to your place? Cuz I'm just starving and-"

"Yes Chunk, we can eat" I replied.

"You get Shortie's crap?" Mouth asked.

I nodded, and we started back to my place, like always. We dropped our bikes at the door, and ran inside to get food and to do our homework.

"Come on Mikey, what's the point of this?" Chunk complained, as we used the quadratic formula for math. "How will this ever help us in life?"

"It won't" I replied.

After about an hour of homework, the guys all started to leave, and I started watching TV.

Finally, it was dinner time. We all sat around the table, and talked about everything.

"So Mikey," my dad started "How was school?"

I finished the mashed potatoes I was eating and said "It was fine. Mr. Baker's class was awesome, just because of the battle training. It was weird though because I didn't have-Shortie!" I remembered. I had completely forgotten to drop off her homework.

"Huh?" Brand asked, a confused look on his face.

"Oh, Shortie was gone today, and I got her work for her and stuff, I just forgot to give it to her" I admitted.

"Oh, that's okay sweetie" Mom said. "Just walk over after dinner"

I finished eating, and started my way to Shortie's house.

For some reason, she never wanted us at her house. We all knew where she lived, she just hated having people over. I don't think I've ever stepped inside her house in my life.

As I reached the porch, I heard screaming from inside. My heart rate started pounding as I ran up the steps to her door.

Nervously, I knocked very quietly. I heard crying from inside, and decided to open the door.

You know those moments that seem to last forever? No matter how hard you want the clock to keep ticking, it just stays frozen in that one moment.

That's exactly how I felt when I saw Shortie's dad slap her right on the face, knocking her on to the floor. She looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw me standing there. She had a bloody nose, and tear stained eyes.

I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I couldn't do anything.

Shortie started to stand up and run towards me, when her father took his bear bottle, and broke it against her arm.

"Worthless piece of shit" he said to her, to drunk to notice me.

I couldn't take it. I started running back down the stairs, when I heard her yell my name.

"Mikey!" She called out.

I kept walking forward.

"Mikey!" She called a little louder.

I still kept walking.

"You dumb idiot _stop_" she cried.

"What just happened?" I demanded.

"I-I, uh" she stuttered.

With a fierce voice, I said "Tell me, Molly"

She knew I was serious when I used her real name.

"Look, it happens every night, it's no big deal-"

"No big deal!" I was outraged. "Your dad was beating the living hell out of you! If that's not a big deal, what is!"

She was taking really sharp, shaky breaths. I tried to calm down a little bit.

"How long has this been happening?" I asked, my voice slow and steady.

"Five years" she barley whispered.

It felt like I had been hit by two tons of bricks. My best friend has been abused for the past five years, and she never told any of us.

"Mikey," she started, trying to hold back tears. "You can't tell anyone about this"

"What?" I replied in pure shock. Why would I let her stay here?

"If you tell anyone, I'll be put in the foster care system faster then Chunk can eat a pizza. I'll never see you guys again. Do you really want that?"

"No, but-"

"Mikey, just forget what you ever saw. Please" she begged.

"Shortie, I can't let you stay here, I-"

"I can handle it! I promise, if things get to out of control, I'll tell you"

I sighed. How was I suppose to react to this? I can't let her keep staying here, but I also don't want her to move away.

"Fine" I caved. I saw a rush of relive flood over her, as she let out a sob. I pulled her into my arms, and just let her cry.

"I promise Molly, it'll be okay" I said, as reassuring as I could be.

She pulled away, and nodded at me.

"See ya tomorrow, Mike" she said, walking back up her stairs.

"See ya, Shortie"

As I walked home, I realized what I had just done.

I'm letting my best friend live with an abusive family.

**And that's that. Please review! It would really mean a lot! I'm working really hard on this story, and I would really love the encouragement!**

**Thanks! **


	4. Here We Go

**Sorry this chapter took so long! I tried really really hard on it, so I really hope you like it!**

To be honest, I barley slept a wink last night, and even when I did, I woke up with nightmares about her. My mind kept replaying that moment, the moment when Shortie's father slapped her to the floor.

And I know that isn't even the worst of it. Guilt racked my brain as I remembered all the bruises, scratches, and even scars on her body.

_"Or what? You'll beat the shit out of me? Believe me; I know the feeling"_

_"I already have enough crap going on with me..."_

_"Oh, it's from-um-when Troy dropped me in the lake! Yup, that's it!"_

These words filled my mind, as I just wondered why she didn't tell any of us. We could have helped her.

'_No_' I corrected myself _'We still can help her'_

But she told me not to tell anyone... Ugh!

My mind sore from thinking about it, I went downstairs for a 2 am snack. I snuck down the stairs, and tried to be as quiet as possible. I knew mom would kill me if she found out I was up this late on a school night. I opened the fridge to see what I could eat, when I heard slight footsteps coming down the stairs.

Thinking fast, I shut the fridge and hid underneath the sink. I held my breath as the footsteps approached the kitchen.

"Mikey?" I heard, barley whispered.

I let out a sigh of relief. It was just Brand. I crawled out from under the sink, and he snickered at me.

"Mikey, what are you doing? You should be asleep" he told me.

"I couldn't sleep. Thought food would help" I responded.

"Well, get to bed before mom finds ya" Brand said.

I started my way back up the stairs, when something inside me made me stop.

"Brand?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He responded, looking back at me.

"I'm having a bit of a problem" I admitted.

Brand's eyes narrowed a little bit. "Like, a girl problem?"

I hesitated. "Kind of"

He say down on the stairs, and I took a seat next to him.

"What's on your mind?"

"Well," I started "I have this friend, and she's kind of kept a big secret from me and all of her friends. Today, I found out this secret and she told me not to tell anyone or there will be, uh, convections"

"Consequences" Brand corrected.

"That's what I said. So, the consequences if I tell someone her secret are bad. Like, never see each other again bad. But if I don't tell anyone, she could get seriously hurt. I just don't know what to do, and-"

"Wait," Brand interrupted. "Mikey, is Shortie okay?"

Butterfly's flew into my stomach. "What?" I asked. "I-I never said I was talking about Shortie!"

"Oh please, it was blatantly obvious when you said 'friend' and 'she'. Seriously, is something going on?"

'YES!' I wanted to scream 'She's being hurt every night, and I want to do something about it but I don't want her to be sent away!'

But no; I didn't say that.

"Uh, yeah. Shortie's fine. Night Brand" I said, standing up and starting upstairs.

"Mikey," I heard behind me. "If something really is bad, tell me"

I faked a smile and said "I will", and continued up the stairs.

•••••

The next morning, I felt so tired I could barley think. I noticed Shortie in the hall that morning wearing jeans and a hoodie, her tangled brown locks down.

Before I could talk to her, she was gone into her English class.

I put Shortie out of my head, and walked into Science. Data was already there, starting his reading on the chapter.

"Hey Data" I mumbled, sliding down next to him.

"Hey Mikey" he responded, not looking up from the reading.

In all honesty, my day was fairly dull until Social Studies. I sat down in my seat, just like I always do. I waited until Shortie walked in and took her assigned seat next to me.

"Hey Mike" she said, her voice no different from normal.

"Hey Short Stuff" I responded, trying to play it cool. I wasn't to good at it.

"So," she said, acting like it was all normal "Did I miss much yesterday?"

"Uh, not to m-much. We just did Battle Commands and a lesson 3 on Chapter 16"

"Crap" she whispered. "Can I borrow your notes?"

"Ah-ya-yeah! Sure" I stuttered, passing them over to her.

"Thanks" she smiled.

Why was she acting like this? It was like last night was a dream... Was it?

I studied her closely as she copied my notes. Her oversized sweat shirt was sagging off her shoulder a bit, and I saw a dark purple bruise.

Not a dream.

I was snapped out of my trance when Mr. Baker nodded at me.

"Platoon, fall in!" I yelled.

The class smiled, and grabbed their muskets from the closet. Shortie took her place as my right hand man, and we marched the class outside.

She just seemed so...normal. Smiling, laughing, giving people push ups (we had the power to do that).

Finally, we went back inside to finish our lesson.

At lunch, Mouth came running up to us asking a favor.

"Shortie," he said, causing her to look up from her sandwich.

"Yeah?" She asks, her mouth full of food.

"I need your help to make Lizzie jealous" he explained.

She hesitated. "What's in it for me?"

Mouth looked around, nervously. "I don't know... How bout I come over to your place and clean your room?"

"No!" She said without thought. "Um, don't come over. I'll do it for free"

Mouth smiled. "Great" he said. "Okay, now go to the bathroom and come back in about a minute"

"What, I don't-"

"Just do it!" He snapped.

Shortie rolled her eyes. "Whatever little weirdo"

Mouth rolled his eyes back. "Oh yeah, I'm the little one!"

She scoffed, but went into the bathroom.

"Mouth," Chunk asked, just as he was starting his 3rd piece of pizza "What are you planning"

"Just watch, Chunk ol' pal. It's gonna be great"

Not really caring what was gonna happen next, I went back to eating my apple and started a conversation with Data.

"So if you take the molecular force-"

"Uh huh" I said every five seconds, to make it sound like I was listening.

"And multiply it by the gravitational pull-"

"Uh huh"

"Then you-"

"Shhhh!" Mouth said. "Here comes Shortie!"

"What is your plan, exactly?" I asked, wondering what he actually was doing.

"Just wait. Chunk, put your foot out"

"What? Okay" he said, fairly confused.

As Shortie started back to us, it all clicked in my mind.

Mouth stood up, acting like he was about to leave, when Shortie tripped over Chunks foot, and fell right into Mouth's arms. She winced when she landed, probably because of a bruise left on her.

I felt my face getting hotter when he didn't instantly release her. Wait. Was I...jealous? I quickly dismissed the thought. This was a plan to make Lizzie jealous. She's not actually into him. Right?

After what felt like hours, Mouth propped Shortie up, and carefully look over at Lizzie. He quickly looked back at us, and sat down.

"Guys, I think it's working!" He whispered.

Perhaps it was. I looked at Lizzie, and her blue eyes had a hint of rage in them.

"Whatever" Shortie sighed, and went back to eating her sandwich.

•••••

The rest of the week consisted of basically the same types of things, with a few minor differences. Mrs. Walker still sucked, Ms. O made us read Anne Frank, Coach Peak had us do Basket Ball drills, Mrs. Dorris taught us how to factor, Mr. Baker told us about the largest snowball fight in history (Happened in the Civil War; over 9,000 soldiers participated), Ms. Adams yelled at us the whole time, and I continued watching Mouth and Lizzie awkwardly singing with each other in Music.

After an eternity (or what felt like one) it was Friday. I had made it through the day. I packed up my stuff, and left music class.

I was talking to Mouth when I heard a small voice.

"Hi Clark!" said Audrey Miller, a small brunette.

"Oh, hey Audrey" Mouth said back, awkwardly.

"Great singing! You, me, and Lizzie sound really good together!" She smiled.

"Uh, yeah. Bye Audrey" Mouth said, pulling me out the door.

He let out a sigh of relief when we reached our bikes.

"What was that all about?" I asked him. "She's totally into you!"

Mouth made a gross face and said "Audrey! I would never even consider her! She's such a nerd! And she's short"

"What's wrong with short people?" Shortie said as she grabbed her trashed bike out from the rack.

"Everything" Mouth sneered.

"Well, we have more fun" she said, starting her way home.

"Hey Shortie!" I called.

"Yeah?" She said, turning back around.

"Want to come to my place early? You know, plan everything out?" I asked, hopeful to get her to stay out of her house.

"Maybe," she started "Depends on what my parents say. But I'll be at the Goon Docks tonight for sure!" And she was gone.

I sighed, and got on my own bike. On my way home, I saw Troy driving around with some new skank in his car. I sneered. Douche.

When I finally got home, I went straight for the kitchen. I snagged two apples, a banana, and a packet of crackers. Carefully, I slid them into my backpack for tonight.

Because it was Friday, I didn't have any homework to be working on. I sat around bored for another hour or so, when mom came inside holding bags of groceries.

"Let me help you" I said, standing right up.

"Oh, thanks Mikey" she sighed, handing me a few bags.

"So mom," I started "Can I sleep over at Mouth's tonight?"

"Um, will Clark's parents be there?" She asked me.

"Uh, yeah?" I responded.

"Then it's okay. Have fun Sweetie" she said.

"Thanks!"

I hated lying to my mom, I just knew that she would never let me go on another treasure hunt.

Soon enough, I was down at the Goon Docks, waiting for everyone else to get there.

One by one, everyone showed up. Well, almost everyone.

"Ugh! Where is she!" Mouth complained.

"Well," Chunk started "On my way, I heard screaming from her house. She's probably in a fight with her parents or something"

My heart rate sped up.

"What?" I asked him.

"Yeah, real loud screams. And then-"

"Aw Chunk, quit your lying. There she is" Mouth told us.

I sighed in relief, seeing her short figure jogging over to the rest of us.

She was wearing baggy sweat pants with an old t-shirt, and a hoodie to cover it. Something strange was that she had a pair of crappy, dark sunglasses over her eyes.

"Hey guys! Who's ready for a treasure hunt?" She said, excitedly.

"Yeah!" We all chorused.

"Wait," Data said. "Why you wear sunglasses? It's almost night"

"Yeah! You hiding something?" Chunk said sarcastically, pulling them off her face.

She scrambled to keep them on, but it was to late. We all gasped at what we saw.

"Holy shit!" Mouth said, shocked. "Where did this come from?"

I knew. I knew exactly where it came from.

Everyone else crowded around, looking at the dark purple bruise that surrounded her swelled green eye.

"Oh, this? I, uh, um, fell! Yeah. I fell off my bike on my way home. No biggie." She stuttered out.

"Dang girl!" Chunk said. "That must have been one hell of a crash"

"No, no" Data interrupted. "You wouldn't get a bruise that bad from a bike crash"

"Well, it's what happened" she snapped.

"Okay then" Mouth said, suspiciously.

"Lets do this!" Shortie said, trying to change the topic.

"Yeah! Treasure!" Data exclaimed.

"Follow the stars" I whispered, looking up.

Here we go.

**Sorry if the ending sucked...**

**So, how was the chapter? I hope you liked it!**

**Just saying, I really like writing about the SS class with the commands and stuff, just because I just did all that. It was one of the best things of my life!**

**So, please review! It would mean a lot!**


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